torstai 27. helmikuuta 2014

Dear Henrica how are you with your family and your work? We are very fine. We changed our living place last week. That means before we lived in Yirgalm and now we moved back to Kambata, because as you know Kambata is a very central work place for our project. This is a very good place to work and to expand our project work..

Also our next work thing will – as informed in our annual proposal – start in Kambata. The central work place is in Durame area and in Zama congregation. Now we are preparing for next time teaching.

You asked about the cutter woman we interviewed last time. The following picture shows the cutter woman. Her name is Shubo Shutura. She is a Christian. She is a cutter for long time and have practiced the harmful traditional FGM more than 15 years. As she said especially June and July months are a devotional time to practice the harmful traditional FGM. In these two months she normally cut more than 50 girls. After cutting she takes 150 Ethiopian birr for each girl. She is in big fear because the governmental rule has made that this harmful traditional practice of FGM must be done in secret (FGM on laitonta Etiopiassa, Henrican huomio).

But now she said: I cannot do FGM anymore after this teaching because I understand more about the dangers of FGM and how it affect the lives of women when they get married and give birth. So that I cannot do this practice after I heard this word of God. Finally after our teaching she decided to stop this traditional practice of FGM.

Hi our dearest, who live
in Finland. We are very fine within our joyful work and within our
family. As we informed you
last time our teaching in Kokossa in Bale area was very good and it was
fruitful time. We could reach more than hundred male and
female, married and unmarried. Especially on Saturday we gave
training for 120 key persons, church leaders, youth coordinators,
women leaders, churches members, pastors, evangelists, choir
coordinators and governmental leaders. Also on Sunday we taught in
different churches, Tesfaye taught in Kale Hiwot church and Bezunesh taught
in Full Gospel church about the harmful traditional practice of FGM.

Our teaching was
concerning historical background of FGM and how it inter into
Ethiopia, based on our annual proposal.

Our teaching was like the
following:

Definition of FGM

The world health
organization (WHO) defines FGM as “all producers involving partial
or total removal of the external female genitalia or other injury to
the female genital organs, whether for culture or other
non-therapeutic reasons.” It is considered as part of a group of
traditional practice of female sex organ.

Its literal meaning is
“to cut off an important part of human genital organ involving the
whole part of the external genital organ of female.” It is one of
widely practiced traditions that have been damaging the health of
women and young girls in Ethiopia and other countries. It is
deeprooted practice as the value of FGM practicing society.

For Muslims, circumcision
is an outward symbol of the religious process, which brings oneself
under the discipline of God’s requirement. According to their
understanding circumcision reflects the inner growth of reason and
submission of base passions to the higher spiritual requirements of
true Islam.

Historical origin of FGM

Different writers have
different suggestion about the origin of FGM. According to Sandy
Willcox FGM was practiced in Egypt before 2500 B.C. Also pre-Islamic
Arabia and ancient Rome are involved countries. Gachiri signifies
that the practices was practicing before thousands of years and it
was originated in Egypt and Ethiopia as earliest as one century B.C.
but this is merely assumption without evidence. A Greek papyrus from
163 B.C. mentions girls in Egypt were undergoing circumcisions and it
is widely accepted to have originated in Egypt and the Nile valley at
the time of pharaohs.

Many people try to link
the origin of FGM with Islam. However, the significance of the
earliest records of the practice of FGM had begun thousands of years
in Egypt before the beginning of Islam. Considering FGM as an Islamic
religion obligation is not the right attitude because FGM was carried
out before Islam arrived in Africa. Also Koran does not prescribe the
performance of FGM.

The phenomenon

The estimation of the WHO
shows that currently 100 to 140 million girls and women are living
with the consequences of FGM at more than 30 countries of the
worldwide. In Africa about three million girls are at risk for FGM
annually and six thousand of them daily.

It has been long
abandoned in many countries. However, today it is common practice in
28 African countries and more than 80 million women are at risk in
Africa. Christians, muslims and animals have been subject to it. In
Ethiopia FGM is practiced by Muslims and Christians alike.
Internationally, FGM is recognized as a violation of the human rights
of girls and women. With boys foreskin is cut while at girls the
clitoris and other parts of the vulva are removed. What is done to
girls has different purpose and result when we compare it with male
circumsition.

The Types of FGM

The world health
classified FGM into four major types:

Type one is
Clitoridectomy -It is the removal of the clitoris with the prepuce or
without excising part or the entire clitoris.
In Ethiopia this practice is common between the Amharic and Tigrigna
speaking muslims. It is considered as the simplest type. It requires
a great skill, good light, surgical tools and an anesthetized,
motionless body, quite aside from a thorough knowledge of anatomy.

Type Two is Excision - It
is removal of the clitoris together with partial or total excision of
the labia minora with or without the labia minor. In Ethiopia tribes
who commonly practice it are Gurage, Tigire, the Gondor’s Amara,
Oromo, Shinashe, Kunama and Kambata.

Type Three is
Infibulations - It is stitching of the opening of vagina by creating a
seal covering which is formed by cutting and repositioning the inner
and sometimes outer labia with or without removal of the clitoris. In
this type of FGM a small hole is leaving for urine. The tribes
Harare, Somali, Mensal, Saho, Afar and some Oromo in Hararge practice
it.

Type four is other or
Unclassified - This is a collective form of FGM. It has diverse range
of practice like priking the clitoris with needles, burning or
scarring the genitals, and ripping or tearing of the vagina.
Primarily this type is found among isolated ethnic groups as well as
in combination with other types. It is not practiced in Ethiopia but
in Pitta-Pattain Australia and Rwanda.Variations of the types of FGM
show that the irreversibility of the practice throughout the world.

However, in Ethiopia
about 90% of women are believed to undergo one of the above three
forms of mutilation except type four of FGM.

The Process of FGM

The procedure varies,
depending on the FGM types girls age, and circumciser’s experience.

The circumciser: in
Ethiopia the process of mutilation is performed under unhygienic
condition by traditional practitioners, mainly old women and men.
They use the sharp instrument like a razor blade and knife. Some of
them are traditional birth attendants. They use it as a means of
income generating. Majority of them are uneducated village women and
village midwives. In some culture circumcisers are ordained by a
group of elders. In Agikuyu of Keny a child is believed and said to
have an inner calling to be traditional doctor. Others perform it as
inheritance from their mother or father at the old age of the father
or mother since they become unable to perform the operation because
she or he could not cut properly.

The circumcisers use some
local medicines to heal the wound. Some of them apply antibiotics in
ointment form and in powder form after they excise girls body. In
Agikuyu of Kenya the less modern circumcisers pour milk, iodine onto
the fresh wound. The traditional ones use red powder made from alloy
leaves after they dried and crushed. They smear folded leaves with
castor oil. These leaves are placed in the center of the wound to
separate the two sides and to keep them from joining together during
the healing process. In Ethiopia the circumcisers are recognized as
gifted with the ability of circumcision from the nature. In some
areas they are assumed as they are possessed by evil spirit. The
medicine, which circumcises use at the time of the procedure, has its
own health affection.

Procedures are mostly
carried out on young girls sometime between infancy and age 15, and
occasionally on adult women. It is different from culture to culture.
In Ethiopia the age of the procedure is different from place to place
and family to family. But girls and boys are circumcised before
marriage. The economic background of the family plays a great a great
role for early circumcision or late circumcision.

Determinants of FGM

The reasons for doing FGM
are as varied as the rituals that go with the custom, including a mix
of traditional, socio- cultural, and religious factors.

Socio-Cultural Factors:
Where FGM is a social conviction, the social pressure to conform to
what others do and been doing is a strong motivation to perpetuate
the practice. It is often considered as a way to prepare adulthood
and marriage. The most common reasons to practice FGM are to reduce
wife’s sexual desires in order to indemnify her faithfulness to her
husband in their marriage relation, to prevent problems of labor and
delivery, to conform traditional requirements, peer pressure, fear of
stigmatization, for cleanness, and beautifulness after the removal of
the clitoris. Most of these beliefs do not stand up in the face of
current knowledge and realities. The traditionalists excise women
because their forefathers and andestors did it.

In addition to the above
mentioned points socio-cultural factors include the excising of power
and control over women and it is honor for the family or clan of the
circumcised girls. The procedure brings prestige to families, ensures
that the girls can marry certain people and that they will not be
able to marry into groups that do not excise. It is sometimes an
education into a secret society. It initiates to join the group in
order to obtain social support of the group. These societies also
often have considerable influence over the entire cultural group of
which they form a part. According to the declaration of WHO of 1996
in some society, recent adoption of the practice is linked to copying
the traditions of the neighboring groups.

The Religious Factors

Societies that practice
FGM believe that unless a woman is circumcised her prayer will not be
heard, her burial will not be performed in accordance to the cultural
customs and norms. Uncircumcised girls are seen as bad women that
bring a wrath of the creation because they considered FGM as
religious requirement. In Keffa being uncircumcised is an insult to
God. Additionally, Harari’s and Afar’s believe that uncircumcised
women prayer and offering are not acceptable. Jeblawi religion says,
that which protruded from the boy is excessive and should be trimmed.

However, some reactions
are raised from the religious leaders in relation to the religious
factors of FGM. They take varying positions regarding to FGM, some
promote it and others contribute tools for elimination. Coptic Pop
Shenouda, the leader of Egypt’s minority Christian community, said
that the Quran nor the Bible demand or mention female circumcision.
Doctor Kemani presented concerning Islamic attitude towards FGM in
the IAC on traditional symposium held in Tanzania in August 2000
said: ”We understand that the female circumcision is not an Islamic
tradition or a religious obligation. Moreover, in its most sever form
it is considered as an anti-Islamic act. In fact, performing such an
action should depend on medical instructions that in the case of
necessity and being of interest and not practiced by all individuals.
Therefore, performing this act in Islam is not prohibited and neither
emphasized however it is left to circumstances and necessities.”

Some muslim communities
practice as it was demanded by Islamic faith, however it predates
Islam. But in prohibiting the practice Al-Azhar Suprem Council of
Islamic research the highest religious authority in Egypt issued a
statement saying FGM has no basis in core Islamic law or any of its
partial provisions and that it is harmful and should not be
practiced. FGM is often motivated by social beliefs to insure wife’s
faithfulness to her husband in considering proper sexual behavior and
to keep prematurely virginity and marital fidelity..

After this teaching we
made a group discussion and interview time for each church. And then,
we gave three questions to them:

1. Why
do the people of Oromo practice this harmful traditional FGM?

2. What is the attitude of Christians in this area about FGM?

3.What
is the churches stand about this bad traditional practice of FGM?

After their discussion
and interview each group did a presentation for all the others what they
discussed and what they decided to do about it. Their response look
like this:

1. Evangelical church of
Mekane Yesus:

This group is from
Evangelical Church of Mekane Yesus, it is not from only one church
but many churches. The leader’s are very happy in our training and
teaching program and they decided to stop the harmful practice of FGM
by teaching, training and giving recognition for all the church
members. And they said ”first of all we start to stop this kind of
bad practice for our children and we will show a good example for
others”. Also one women said that she have three uncircumcised
girls and she will take care that they will not undergo any kind of the harmful practice of
FGM.

2. Full Gospel Church

This group is from Full
Gospel Church. They strongly dislike the cultural practice of FGM and
they decided to teach about it in the church and at any place and also by
contacting the government. This group have a good opportunity
because among learners they have health centers workers and a
district president. We hope they can reach others
through these key persons.

3. Kale Hiwot church

This group is from Kale
Hiwot three churches (KHC). After training their comment was that
this teaching must become work of leaders and Evangelists. After
that they can change other people. Within this group the unique thing
is that we reach one cutter women through our teaching and we could
interview her. Also this group rejected the harmful practice of FGM.

4. Hiwot Birhan church

The last group is from
Hiwot Birhan Church. Most of this group is very rejecting towards
the cultural practice of FGM among Oromo people because the FGM
practice discourages the women’s life psychological, physical and
total life of marriage. After this training they decided to stop the
harmful practice of FGM and they will try to teach about it in church
and at any place where they are getting any chance.

Finally all groups said
for the future time they want additional training and more
recognition about the harmful practice of FGM. And we agreed that we
will teach another time. So, we and Sari are very happy this time
with all our great work.

"Hi our dearest Henrica how
are you? We are very fine with our greatful work. Also after Bale
teaching we are very happy because we reach more than 120 people with in
our teaching. In Bale area we teach more than four churches leaders,
women leaders and youth coordinators and other groups. Also we paid
their lunch and soft drinks within and our every cost covered by
ourselves except car. We want to thank dear Sari because she helped us with
her car. Ww turn to our home on Sunday evening, so we will send our work
report when we finished its arrangement. May God bless you all!